The notion of the 'supergroup' belongs with kaftans and interesting tricks with Mars bars in the antediluvian annals of rock music. Sure, there have been stellar studio-bound collaborations between top producers and there are few things more electrifying than seeing two of your favourite DJs spin back-to-back, but the supergroup show embodied by the likes of Crosby, Stills and Nash in the 1970s is something dance music has so far not really seen.
Until the Swedish House Mafia came along, that is. For these Scandinavians aren't just a 'supergroup' in the sense of bringing three individually successful DJs - Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello - together under one banner. Just days after speaking to DJmag, the trio announced that they will be joining the likes of Kiss, Led Zeppelin and Queen in the list of those who have headlined New York's Madison Square Gardens - their gargantuan gig there this December matched by an equally humungous shindig at Milton Keynes Bowl in the UK next July. And that's before we get to the question of 'Take One', their on-the-road documentary film DVD which contained enough hissy fits and groupies to make The Rolling Stones' infamous Cocksucker Blues look like Songs Of Praise.
“You can't be intentional about a documentary,” comes the reply from Swedish House Mafia HQ after we ask whether Take One's resemblance to This Is Spinal Tap was by accident or design. “It's just what it was and it's something we can personally keep from that era.”
There's no doubt that SHM have got something going on. You don't get to sell out clubs from - to quote the title of one of their tunes - 'Miami 2 Ibiza' on luck alone.
“We're pushing the boundaries of what to expect at a show.” That's something you don't need to just take their word for, since the tens of thousands of ravers who've caught Swedish House Mafia over the past year - whether at their Masquerade Hotel parties in Las Vegas or their sell-out two nights at London's Alexandra Palace - will attest that Swedish House Mafia do indeed provide plenty of bang for their bucks.
So much so that the all-DJing, all-dancing Swedish House Mafia roadshow has been in danger of overshadowing not just the trio's individual DJ careers, but also their productions. This despite the fact that they've had a dream team of celebrity collaborators such as Tinie Tempah on recent tracks, or that their remix of Coldplay's 'Every Teardrop Is Like A Waterfall' - which you can hear on their forthcoming 'live' album 'ONS', recorded on their 'One Night Stand' tour - was one of the biggest tracks of the year, coming with the seal of approval from Mr Paltrow himself. “We have opportunities as a three piece that we do not have as solo artists,” they claim. “Musically we go full-on into Swedish House Mafia and we're all ready to go full-on solo. And vice versa. It keeps it fresh. We get amazing production offers all the time but we are taking our time and also focusing on productions for the dancefloor where our hearts still are. There's plenty of time for Hollywood.”
Which remains, crucially, the key to their success. For despite all the superstar hobnobbing and rock 'n' roll excess, Swedish House Mafia still know what works on the dancefloor, which is - in their own words - the fact that “goosebumps never lie” and what they call “rave preservation”. “If you always ask for those two things and you feel good - do it,” they state.